Luckily for the siblings, Queen Elizabeth changed the rules back in 2012

Unless you’ve been living on the Moon for the past few days, you’ll know that there’s a teeny-tiny new member of the Royal Family.

Kate Middleton and Prince William welcomed their third child last Monday, a son named Louis Arthur Charles. He’s a brother for Prince George and Princess Charlotte, and his full title is His Royal Highness Prince Louis of Cambridge.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are delighted to announce that they have named their son Louis Arthur Charles.

But interestingly, little Louis almost wasn’t a prince at all. There used to be a rule in place that would’ve stopped both him and his big sister Charlotte – who turns three on Wednesday – from being given HRH titles.

Back in 1917, King George V (AKA the Queen’s grandfather) decided there were too many people known as Prince or Princess, so he limited the number.

His regulation said that only the monarch, their children, their grandchildren and one other person could be called His or Her Royal Highness – this person being the Prince of Wales’ first grandson.

Prince George would have been HRH, but Charlotte wouldn’t have

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This would’ve meant that Prince George would’ve been the last person to receive the honour. Charlotte and Louis would most likely have been titled Lady Charlotte Mountbatten-Windsor and Lord Louis Mountbatten-Windsor.

Not only that, but if Charlotte had been born first, she still would’ve missed out on being a Princess. All because she’s a girl.

Luckily, the Queen stepped in in 2012. After William and Kate married in 2011, she changed the system to ensure that all of their children would become HRHs.

The Queen changed the rules in 2012

At the same time, she allowed girls to be equal to boys when it came to the line of succession. This rule states: ‘In determining the succession to the Crown, the gender of a person born after 28 October 2011 does not give that person, or that person’s descendants, precedence over any other person (whenever born).’